To Save a Life
by thegreatwhitewolf
Summary: Roxas and Axel hated each other's guts…until a CPR class made them partners. Who knew one kiss could change everything and so fast. And it wasn't even supposed to be a kiss. AU AxelxRoxas ZexionxDemyx
1. The 1st Day

To Save a Life

Summary: Roxas and Axel hated each other's guts…until a CPR class made them partners. Who knew one kiss could change everything and so fast. And it wasn't even supposed to be a kiss. AU AxelxRoxas ZexionxDemyx

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters associated with Kingdom Hearts or Kingdom Hearts II. I'm merely borrowing them.

Warning: I feel obligated to warn you that there will be boyxboy pairings so if you're not comfortable with the idea of two guys being together, then I suggest you leave now.

A/N: I was watching Family Guy and this came into my head. And it hasn't let me go. Damn plot bunnies! This is more-or-less a prequel to an upcoming fic of mine called To Create a Life, meaning that it takes place before it. But not to worry, I haven't even started To Create A Life yet so there's no need for you to worry about possibly being confused. No, the confusion will come after I've started writing To Create A Life. But I'm not even going to start writing it until after I've finished this. This will be a oneshot. A very long oneshot. The format will be slightly different than normal. I'm playing around with things and I want to see if this works. If it does, I might use the format in To Create a Life. I'm not sure yet though. Well I'll stop my rambling now.

--

To say Roxas and Axel hated each other's guts was an understatement. They loathed each other. It had been like that since they had met in kindergarten. Generally, they didn't get along because they were complete opposites; Roxas was stoic and melancholy and Axel was a bubbling ball of energy. As they grew older, their hatred of each other grew deeper—at least Roxas's hatred for Axel did. He hated Axel so much. He could barely even stand to be around him.

Summers were Roxas's favorite time because he didn't have to deal with Axel and his outgoing personality. Until the summer he took a CPR class up at the high school.

It was not his idea to take the stupid class—it was his mom's. She thought he (and Sora, who was also taking the class along with him) should be prepared in case of an emergency. The only good thing about taking it was that he wouldn't be alone; Sora and their mutual friend Riku would both be in that class with him.

The 1st Day

When Roxas walked into the classroom the first day, he realized that Fate must really hate him because who else was sitting at the front of the classroom but Axel. He recognized his bright red hair in a heartbeat. He was sitting at the front of the classroom wearing a long black cloak with the hood pushed back, that stupid cloak that he wore at all times because he was in that stupid gang called Organization XIII. They didn't even have thirteen members. God knows why they called themselves Organization XIII when there were only twelve members.

Axel was talking to another member of the gang, the enigmatic dark silver-haired teen Zexion. Roxas pretended that neither of them existed and sat at the back of the room with Riku and his brother.

The teacher entered, a tall, slim, dark-haired woman in her early thirties.

"I am Miss Lockhart," she began. "Some of you may recognize me as the Life Skills teacher. I am going to be teaching this CPR class…obviously, so let's begin. When I call your name, come and sit in the seat I indicate. Allison Abbhand." A small mousy girl rose and scurried to the seat Miss Lockhart pointed at. Slowly, she ran through the list.

"Axel Gold," she called. Grinning from ear to ear, Axel got up and bounced to the first seat in the second row (there were only ten people total in the class). Zexion sat behind him. A boy named Seamus sat behind him.

"Roxas Strife," Miss Lockhart called.

Roxas rose and came forward. He saw where he was supposed to sit and a quiet groan escaped his lips. Now he **really **knew that Fate was holding a grudge against him—he had to sit next to Axel.

"Hiya Roxie!" Axel chirped cheerfully.

"Don't call me that," Roxas snapped.

Axel didn't seem to be bothered by Roxas's attitude.

"Sora Strife." Miss Lockhart paused.

"Roxas is my brother," Sora answered the unasked question.

"Well sit behind him."

Sora nodded and took his place behind him. Once everyone had taken their places, Miss. Lockhart stood at the front of the class again.

"It is my job to make sure you are properly certified in CPR in this one-day class," she said. "Because of damn budget cuts over the past couple of years, the school has been unable to buy dummies needed for this course to practice on so we'll be practicing on each other." There were muffled groans, looks of outrage, and looks of horror. Axel was grinning for some reason. "I have already chosen the partners by random." She started naming of the pairs. Zexion was with some random girl. The next pair was a total surprise. "Axel and Roxas." There was a low murmur of laughter; pretty much everyone knew about the enmity between the two.

"What?! I…I can't be paired with him!" Roxas immediately protested.

"Tough luck Roxas. There will be no switching. You're just going to have to learn how to deal with him."  
Roxas grumbled under his breath.  
"It'll be okay," Sora said sympathetically.

He had gotten lucky; his partner was Riku. Roxas just glared at him.

"I'll give the lecture and demonstrate, and then let you practice for a while. We'll take a short break and then you'll have a quiz which will include giving a demonstration of what to do. Passage of this class will earn you your certificate that's good for two years. After that, you'll have to take a quick refresher course and renew your certificate. So…take out paper and something to write with…unless you'd rather fail."

There were soft murmurs and rustling noises as people got out what they needed.

Miss Lockhart began the lecture, "CPR stands for Cardiac Pulmonary Resuscitation. Cardiac refers to the heart, pulmonary refers to the lungs, and resuscitation means to revive or revitalize…"

Roxas felt his attention slipping away and his head turned slightly to the right to watch Axel. He wasn't paying attention either, but doodling on his notebook paper that he had borrowed from Zexion. There was a slight movement behind him as Zexion passed him a note. Even from where he sat, Roxas could read Zexion's neat handwriting:

Pay attention Axel or you're not going to learn anything.

Axel responded though Roxas couldn't see what he wrote. Moments later, Zexion passed him back the note:

You should care. This is important.

Roxas turned his head back and tried to listen to Miss Lockhart again.

"Let's get a pair up here to demonstrate. Axel, you and Roxas will do," she said.

"What?!" Roxas demanded.

"Come on."

Axel eagerly ran up to the front. Roxas slowly followed.

"Okay. Roxas, lay down on top of the desk," Miss Lockhart ordered. Roxas did what he was told. "The first thing you need to do is check for responsiveness. Ask the victim if he or she is okay. If there's not a neck or spinal cord injury, shake him/her, and if you know him/her call his/her name. Give it a try, Axel."

"Yes ma'am." Axel walked over to the desk. "Roxie, close your eyes. It'll make it seem more real." Roxas groaned but closed his eyes. Axel hesitated. "Do we know if he has a brain or spinal cord injury?"

"Nope. He doesn't. We'll say that he was drowning."

"Okay." Axel stepped forward. "Hey Roxie. Roxas. You okay?" He roughly shook Roxas.

"Gently Axel." Miss Lockhart cringed.

Axel was more gentle. Roxas stayed still.

"If you don't get a response, call 9-1-1 and check the airway. To do this, check for any sign that there is breathing. If he or she isn't, check to see if there's anything blocking, such as the tongue. Put one hand on his forehead and the other on his chin. Gently tilt his head back so the tongue moves out of the way." Roxas felt Axel's hands on his head and chin, gently tilting his head back. "That's it Axel. Good. Is he breathing?"

"Uh…" Miss Lockhart shook her head slightly. "Nope. Not breathing."

"Okay then. You'll have to assist him in his breathing."

Roxas's eyes snapped open. "He…what?!" He sputtered, sitting up.

"Lie back down Roxas," Miss Lockhart ordered. "Mr. Gold is going to assist you in breathing. Close your eyes." Roxas grumbled under his breath as he laid back down and shut his eyes. "Now Axel, support Roxas's chin with one hand and pinch his nose with the other. This will keep air from escaping. Roxas felt Axel's hand on his chin again, gently cupping it, and the other pinched his nose. He was dreading what came next—Axel's lips over his own. "Watch Roxas's chest and try not to give him too much air, thus overfilling his lungs. He may vomit if you do this."

_Oh great_. Roxas thought.

"If he does vomit, turn his head to the side and make sure his airway is not blocked."

_Please god don't let me vomit._ Roxas thought.

"Now Axel, breathe twice for Roxas and pause to let him exhale. Listen for air escaping his mouth and watch his chest fall."

_This is it_. Roxas thought.

Axel put his mouth to Roxas's. Roxas was surprised at how soft Axel's lips were.

"Breathe once…" There was a sudden rush of air into Roxas's mouth and he couldn't help coughing. Axel pulled away and helped Roxas to sit up as he coughed. Fate, at least, was behaving, as he didn't throw up.

"That's good. That's very good. You want a response from him, whether it's coughing, breathing, or even moving. If not, then you must check the victim's circulation. Axel, Roxas, nice job. You may sit down now." Miss Lockhart smiled.

Roxas rushed to obey. Axel was slower.

"Now let's have another pair demonstrate the second part of the technique. Zexion, Tanya, why don't you two come up here?" Miss. Lockhart said.

Zexion and his partner Tanya, a strawberry blonde girl rose and shyly came up to the front.

"Tanya, you can lie down and I'll have Zexion demonstrate what to do." Blushing, Tanya laid down and closed her eyes. "Okay now Zexion. What you do first is feel for a pulse. Put two hands on her neck in this depression here." Miss Lockhart showed Zexion where to place his fingers. "Do you feel her pulse?" Zexion nodded. "Good. If you don't feel a pulse, you'll need to start chest compressions. This part can be very tricky. You need to make sure your hands are in the right place. Put two fingers at the sternum…"

Roxas was distracted when Axel passed him a note. He carefully unfolded the note and read it:

That wasn't so bad, was it?

No.

You did fine.

Roxas didn't have response to that. He turned back to the front and watched as Zexion gave Tanya chest compressions. He swore the silver-haired boy had a faint flush to his cheeks, although it was hard to tell.

Axel passed him another note:

Look, I know you hate me. It's a known fact. But you don't have to hate me. There's more to me than you think. Just give me a chance, okay? Will you meet me tomorrow at a café so we can talk?

Roxas's first instinct was to say no, but there was something in Axel's note that caught his interest.

_What does he mean 'there's more to me than you think.'?_ He wondered silently. He picked up his pen and replied:

Fine. But you'd better not waste my time.

Oh don't worry Roxie. I won't.

They quit passing notes to each other.

"Okay let's take a quick ten minute break so I can set up for the second part of the class," Miss Lockhart announced. There were a lot of sighs of relief and everyone left. Roxas quickly went to the bathroom. When he returned, the classroom was deserted except for Axel and Zexion. The desks had been pushed back out of the way creating a large space in the middle of the floor. Axel and Zexion sat to the side, talking in serious tones. Roxas tried not to listen to what was being said, but he couldn't help overhearing.

"How are you feeling Zex?" Axel asked anxiously.

"Better," Zexion answered. "The nausea has gone away for now. Vexen's anti-nausea medicine is working."  
"That's good to hear." Axel smiled. "Hopefully you'll be able to keep some stuff down now."  
"Not with Marluxia's cooking I won't," Zexion grumbled. Axel laughed. Zexion managed a weak chuckle.

"Don't worry. Only a couple more months of this," Axel said sympathetically.

"Yeah." The two of them fell silent.

Miss Lockhart came back in, her arms full of mats. Axel rose at once.

"Would you like some help Miss Lockhart?" he asked.

"Oh Axel. Yes. Thank you. That would be nice." Miss Lockhart smiled.

Zexion rose and helped. Roxas watched Zexion carefully. He had a feeling that something was going to happen. He was right; Zexion bent down to spread a mat out and when he straightened up, his cloak got caught on the side of a desk. It parted, revealing the clothes he wore underneath, a black shirt and a pair of black pants, as well as a pair of black leather boots. But that wasn't what made Roxas stare. He stared at Zexion's stomach, which was perfectly rounded. Zexion saw him staring and hastily covered his stomach back up. His face flushed. Roxas turned to Axel, a questioning look on his face.

"I'll explain tomorrow. I promise," he mouthed.

"You'd better," Roxas mouthed in return.

The rest of the mats were set up and the class shuffled in.

"Get with your partners and have one of them lie on the ground on their back," Miss Lockhart ordered.

Axel walked over to Roxas, Zexion and his partner following.  
"Do you want me to go first or do you want me to?" Tanya asked.  
"I don't care," Zexion said in a distracted voice.

"Lie down then," Tanya ordered.

"What? Oh!" Zexion turned his attention back to his partner and laid down on the mat next to Roxas. He glanced over at the brunette with a worried glance.

"Zexion focus!" Tanya snapped.

Zexion turned back to his partner. "Sorry."

Roxas had to focus on his own partner.

"Ready for round to?" Axel asked, a wry grin on his face.

"Whatever," Roxas answered.

They practiced for a while, but it got boring quickly.

"Go ahead and switch," Miss Lockhart told them. "You've mastered the technique pretty well. Let Roxas have a turn now."

"With pleasure." Axel grinned.

He moved back and allowed Roxas to get up. Once Roxas was out of the way, Axel laid down on his back and waited for Roxas. Roxas gritted his teeth and knelt down next to the red-haired boy.

"You're enjoying this immensely aren't you?" he asked in a fierce whisper.

"Totally." Axel grinned.

Roxas groaned in disgust. He couldn't believe he had to do this. He leaned over Axel who stared up at him with his vibrant green eyes.

"Aren't you going to close your eyes?" Roxas asked.

"Naw," Axel replied. "You have stunning eyes."

"What?" Roxas was taken aback.

"You have beautiful blue eyes." Axel's eyes curled up into a smile.

"You're weird." Roxas shook his head.

"You gonna start practicing?"

"Oh. Yeah."  
Roxas put his lips against Axel's open mouth and exhaled. He pulled away as Axel started coughing. Once the coughing spell died down, Axel laid back down and Roxas began breathing for him again. This prompted another coughing spell by Axel. When this one had finished, Roxas did chest compressions.

"Good Roxas. Good," Miss Lockhart complimented, walking over to check on their progress.

Once they had finished practicing, they took another, longer break. Axel and Zexion remained behind again, talking to each other in the corner. This time, Roxas stayed behind and walked right up to the two of them.

"Axel, we need to talk," he said.

Zexion looked slightly alarmed. He rose to leave, but Axel grabbed his arm.

"Zex stay," he ordered firmly. Mutely, Zexion dropped back into his seat. "This concerns you too." He looked up at Roxas. "Am I right?"

"Yes," Roxas answered. Axel gestured to the seat on his right. Roxas sat. There was an awkward silence.

"Are you two together?" Roxas blurted out. He didn't know why it mattered. He didn't know why he cared. All he knew was that it was bothering him. Axel and Zexion looked at each other in complete shock and then Axel started laughing.  
"Together?" Oh god no Roxie. We're just friends. Best friends. Why you interested?" Axel keep laughing.

"No I…was just wondering," Roxas said in a small voice. He pointedly looked at Zexion's middle.

"Look Rox," Axel said slowly. "I can't tell you a lot about what's happening."

"But you said…!" Roxas protested.

Axel held up a hand to silence him. "I know what I said. But there are some things that I can't talk about. I swore an oath to the Organization to never speak about…some things with…outsiders. And I don't really want to go against the Organization's wishes."

"Okay," Roxas said, slightly disappointed. "But what can you tell me?"

Axel grinned mischievously. "You'll just have to wait until tomorrow to find out."  
"Axel!!"

"Sorry Roxie. You're going to have to be patient."

Roxas mumbled curses under his breath. Miss Lockhart returned and the three boys helped her move the desks back into order. Everything was set up for the test. The class shuffled back in. They took their seats and the test began. Roxas frowned as he stared at the questions:

_1.What does CPR stand for?_

_2.How many minutes can pass before a lack of oxygen will result in brain death?_

_3. What does the A-B-C in CPR stand for?_

It went on and on. Roxas answered the questions to the best of his ability. He snuck a glacne to the right. Axel was scribbling down answers with his tongue poking out of his mouth. Roxas's eyes returned to his own paper. He thought for a little while and started writing again.

He finished surprisingly fast and he knew more answers than he thought he did. The demonstrations went fairly smoothly. Miss Lockhart graded their tests and announced their scores. Amazingly, Roxas passed with flying colors, as did Axel, Zexion, and the majority of the class. Certificates were handed out and the class ended. It was only a couple-hour ordeal. Everyone started to leave.

"Hey Roxie!" Axel stopped Roxas. He scribbled something on a piece of paper. "My cell number…you know, if you're interested. I'll see you tomorrow morning at 11."  
"Right," Roxas grumbled, pocketing the piece of paper. He had no idea of why he was meeting Axel tomorrow. He hated him, right?

To be continued…

A/N: This was supposed to be just a oneshot but it was starting to get really long and I just wanted to post the damn thing so here it is. The first installment of this. I hope the format is okay. I'd love to hear your questions, comments, anything. Constructive criticism is good too. I like it.


	2. The 2nd Day

To Save a Life

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters associated with Kingdom Hearts or Kingdom Hearts II. I'm merely borrowing them.

The 2nd Day

Roxas woke up with a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach and a sinking heart. At first, he wasn't sure what it was that caused it Then he remembered the events that had occurred the day before and his heart sank even more. What had possessed him to say yes to Axel? He hated Axel more than anything in the world, right? So what had made it impossible for him to say no to him? Sighing softly, Roxas got out of bed and pulled on a pair of jeans and a T-shirt. He found a clean pair of socks under a pile of dirty laundry in the corner and pulled them on. He glanced at his clock. 10:45. Perfect. He raced downstairs, grabbed a granola bar, and left without greeting anyone who sat at the table. He threw his sneakers on at the door and raced out.

Twilight Town was a very small town so it wasn't hard for Roxas to find the café Axel was talking about. It wasn't hard to find Axel period. With his bright red hair, he stood out in any crowd. The said red-head was sitting at the café, the hood of his black cloak pushed back, a cup of coffee in front of him.

He looked up when Roxas approached and smiled. "Hey Roxas. You came."  
"Yeah." Roxas sat across from him.

"Do you want a cup of coffee or something?" Axel questioned.

"Sure. Why not." Roxas shrugged.

As if summoned by magic, a waitress appeared. She had short blonde hair with two large strands that stood up like antennae and green eyes, a bit darker than Axel's. She wore a waitressing outfit; a short skirt and short sleeved shirt with a white apron over it and knee-high leather boots with a heel on the back.

"What can I get you Axel?" she asked with a slight giggle.

"Roxas here would like a coffee, if that's not too much trouble," Axel replied, ignoring the girl's flirtation.

"Sure thing," the girl smiled. She left.

"Do you know her?" Roxas asked.

"Yeah. Her name is Larxene."

"Oh. Is she your girlfriend?"

Axel chuckled. "Man Roxie you are really bad with trying to guess relationships. First Zex and now Larx."  
"What's that supposed to mean?" Roxas demanded. Axel didn't answer. "So who exactly is she?"

"She's sort of a friend of mine. She belongs to Organization XIII."  
"Really?"  
"Yup. When she comes back, look at her right wrist. She'll have a black tattoo around her wrist."

Larxene came back with a tray with a coffee cup, a pot of coffee, a thing of sugar, and a pitcher of cream. She set them on the table and while she poured Roxas his cup of coffee, he inconspicuously glanced at her right wrist. There was the tattoo, like Axel had said. Larxene straightened up and with a rather chilling smile, left. Roxas turned his attention to his cup of coffee. He dumped a bunch of sugar into it and stirred it.

When he looked up, Axel was staring at him. "What?"  
"Oh nothing." Axel smiled. "I just didn't think you had a sweet tooth, what with your sour attitude and all."  
Roxas glared. "I like sugar."

"I can tell."  
Roxas took a sip and closed his eyes as he drank the hot liquid. He suddenly lowered the cup, looking at Axel.  
"You were right," he said.  
"Oh?" Axel asked, taking a sip of his own coffee.

"Larxene does have a tattoo on her wrist." Roxas stared at him intently. "How did you know that she had the tattoo?"

"I was with her when she got it. All Organization members have to have the tattoo put on their wrist of their dominant hand when they're initiated into the gang and all current members must be present when it happens. No exceptions."  
"So do you have the tattoo?"

"Sure do," Axel answered. "My left wrist. See?" Axel pushed up his left sleeve to reveal a tattoo identical to the one Larxene had on her wrist."

"What's the story on your other tattoos?" Roxas gestured to the two teardrop tattoos under each of Axel's eyes.

Axel shrugged. "I dunno. I just felt like getting them one day."  
"Did they hurt when you got them? All three tattoos?" Roxas asked curiously.

"Aw, a little. I was mostly numb but it was sore afterword. The pain went away after a while," Axel answered.

Roxas took another sip of his coffee. "So why did you drag me out here?" He lowered the cup.  
"I wanted to have a chance to talk to you."  
"About what?"

"Certain…things."

"Like…" Roxas prompted.

"Why do you hate me Roxas?" Axel's gaze was firm.

"What?"  
"Why do you hate me?" Axel persisted.

"I uh…"  
"Roxas please. I want to know why you hate me." There was something in his voice that startled Roxas. It was soft and gentle, not like his usual demeanor. Roxas stared at him; his eyes were filled with sadness.

"Why…why do you care?" Roxas managed to stammer.  
"Because I can." Axel leaned forward with his crossed arms resting on the table, staring intently at Roxas. "So…what do you hate about me?"

Roxas thought for a long time. "Well, your personality is so damn annoying. You're so…I don't know…cocky."

Axel laughed sourly. "Cocky? You've gotta meet Xigbar before you can call me cocky."  
"Okay. Well you're way too enthusiastic."  
Axel laughed harder. "News flash Roxie. Not everyone in the world is morbidly depressed like you. You've just gotta deal with it."  
"I'm not morbidly depressed!" Roxas yelled, rising.  
"I forgot irritable and angry." Axel grinned.

"Stop…fucking with me!"

"What _would_ you like me to do?"  
"I want you…I want you…I want you…" Roxas sputtered.

"You want me?" Axel asked.

"No! I want you to…"

"What? What do you want me to do? Don't keep me in suspense Roxie."  
"Stop calling me Roxie!" Roxas exploded.

Axel mock-pouted. "But it's such a cute nickname for someone as adorable as you."  
"Adorable? You think I'm adorable?!"

"As a matter of fact, yes. I do think you're adorable. You're the cutest kid I've ever met." Axel unexpectedly rose. "I enjoyed having this conversation with you Roxie…oops I mean Roxas. I hope we have more of these conversations in the future. Oh and don't worry about the bill. It's already been taken care of. See you around, Roxie." Axel waved and left. Roxas banged his head against the table. He could feel the heat in his cheeks. Axel was so infuriating! His cell rang. The number across the screen was Hayner's.

"Hello?" Roxas answered dully.

"Roxas? Where are you? I called the house a million times but you weren't there."  
"I'm at a café. I had coffee with…someone."

"Who?"

"It's not important right now Hayner. What do you want?"  
"You could be a little nicer ya know."

"Sorry Hayner. I have a headache."  
"From what?"

"I'll tell you later."  
"Okay. I was just calling to see if you wanted to hang today. Your class is over, right? You should hang with us. We're at the Usual Spot."  
"Okay Hayner. I'll be there in five minutes."

Groaning, Roxas hung up the phone and got up. The headache was not a lie; in the five minutes after Axel left, he had gotten a tremendous headache that he suspected was the fault of the bubbly redhead. Roxas dragged himself to the place where he and his friends always hung out. They called it the Usual Spot. It was tucked away in a back alley where few went so it was nice and quiet there. Unfortunately, Roxas's friends weren't so quiet. Correction: Hayner wasn't that quiet.

Roxas just hoped he could get rid of the headache before he lost his sanity.

Five minutes later, he was at the Usual Spot. His friends Hayner, Pence, Olette, and Naminé were already there.

"Hey Roxas," Hayner greeted the blond.

"Hey Hayner. Pence. Olette. Naminé." Roxas looked at each of the teens sitting in a half circle.

First was Hayner. He had pretty tall blondish-brown hair brown eyes that looked like liquid chocolate. Pence was a bigger fellow with cropped black hair and brown eyes. Olette had brown hair and pretty green eyes. Naminé was the smallest out of the gang and the most sensitive with short brown hair and blue eyes a couple shades lighter than Roxas's eyes.

Roxas sat next to Naminé and faced his friends.  
"So who did you have coffee with this morning?" Hayner demanded.

"Hayner," Olette murmured.

"I'm serious Roxas. Who did you have coffee with?" Hayner pressed.

Roxas sighed softly, knowing that Hayner would not like the answer. "Axel."  
Everyone's facial expressions turned to shock.

"Axel? Axel Gold?!" Hayner choked. "What were you doing with that freak?"

"He invited me to the café to have a cup of coffee with him," Roxas said, tyring to make his voice sound normal.

"Now why would he want to do something like that? He's a member of Organization XIII. Those are bad dudes."

"It is strange," Naminé murmured. "It's strange that someone in the Organization would want to talk to someone outside it. They normally keep to themselves."

"If you ask me, they're hiding something," Hayner proclaimed.

"Yeah," Roxas muttered, remembering Zexion. He knew that kid was hiding something. He just didn't know what.

"Enough of Organization XIII." Olette's firm voice cut through Roxas's thoughts. "Let's just leave them to themselves. That's what they prefer, right? We don't need to waste time worrying about them."

"Olette is right," Naminé said. "Let's talk about something else."

The subject was quickly changed to the upcoming Struggle Tournament, which Roxas and Hayner were both taking part in.

--

"So?" Axel asked the hooded figure across from him.  
"So?" the hooded figure immediately responded. "What? What do you want me to say Axel?"

"I wanna know my chances."  
"Right now, I'd say they're pretty slim, though he has warmed up to you considerably. But they're chances not even Luxord would bet on."

"Yeah."  
"Just give it time Axel. Who knows? Maybe his feelings for you will change."  
"I hope so. I'm really growing attached to him." Axel smiled.

"Don't rush into a relationship. You don't want to end up like me do you?" the hooded figure warned.

"Roxas is **not** like Marluxia." Axel's tone cooled considerably.

"You don't know that for sure. For all we how, he could be."  
"I'm not going to close myself off like you have Zex. I won't become cold and put up a wall between me and others."  
"I'm just trying to protect myself."

"From what?"  
"From being hurt again," Zexion mumbled, shifting uncomfortably.

"You won't be hurt."

"This is about you, not me." Axel could tell that Zexion was glaring at him from underneath his hood.

"What about me?" he asked innocently.

"**Don't** fuck this up. Don't fucking become like me, okay?" Zexion said, his voice laced with anger.

"Yeah Zex. I know," Axel said sadly. "I know."

To be continued…

A/N: Aw, now that's not fair. I start writing this and all of a sudden, I'm getting ideas for a side story about Zexion and exactly why he acts so cold. There's a very good explanation behind it, but I'm not going to go into it right now. There's a bit of an allusion to the ZexionxDemyx pairing in the last paragraph if you squint hard enough. Demyx will be coming in later, I promise. I haven't exactly planned this thing out; I'm pretty much winging it, which is how I write a lot of times. I just wing it until I get stuck and then I make a plan. Don't ask me why. I like not knowing where something is going…until I get stuck. Please review! I want to know if the format works for this. Any criticism is welcome as well as any comments you might have. And reviews help me to update faster. I swear!


	3. The 3rd Day

To Save a Life

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters associated with Kingdom Hearts or Kingdom Hearts II. I'm merely borrowing them.

A/N: I've decided that this is going to take place over a five-day period so there will be a grand total of five chapters. I might write an epilogue, I might not. I watched the cutscenes pertaining to the Struggle several times and this is where I drew my inspiration for this chapter. I'll probably steal a wee bit of dialogue from them to make it seem believable. This chapter took a while for me to start because I wasn't exactly sure of where I wanted this to go. So what did I do? I started writing out the last chapter. This way, I knew where I wanted this to go so I could decide what had to happen in order to get there. I finally figured out that I needed only five chapters instead of seven. Don't worry; To Create a Life will be much bigger and so much longer. This is merely an…introduction to it. Sorry for rambling so much. I'll shut up now.

The 3rd Day

Roxas woke up when Sora jumped on his bed.

"Wake up Roxas! You're gonna be late!" he cried enthusiastically.

"Late? For what?" Roxas asked sleepily.

"Have you forgotten? The Struggle Tournament is today!"

"Oh shit!" Roxas groaned and shot up.

He shoved his twin out of the way and hurried to get dressed. He had promised to meet Hayner early so they could get some practicing in before the event. He was already late. He grabbed a banana for breakfast, said good morning to his mother, and shot out of the house. He was out of breath by the time he arrived at the Usual Spot, however it was deserted.

"Damn," he breathed. "I must be **really** late."

He left the Usual Spot and headed for the Sandlot, where the Struggle Tournaments always took place. There was a large group of people waiting there. In the middle was an elevated ring where the fighting took place. There were banners hanging down from the top of a nearby building with the town's crest and motto on it. Roxas skidded to a stop in front of Hayner, who was talking to Pence.

"I'm sorry I'm late," he panted. "I overslept…"

Hayner turned, making it quite plain that he was ignoring Roxas. Roxas frowned. He hadn't meant to oversleep. The head of the tournament stepped forward.

"Are you guys ready for the biggest event of the summer?" The crowd cheered loudly. "Let's get ready to Struggle!" He stepped to the side, allowing the announcer to step forward.

"Let's introduce the four guys who made it past the preliminaries. First up, Seifer, the head of the Twilight Disciplinary Committee. He's a regular finalist," he said. He motioned to a older boy with blond hair hidden underneath a large black hat. He was dressed in a blue shirt that showed his middle, a pair of ripped jeans, and a sleeveless vest over it. "Next, the enigmatic and out-of-nowhere surprise, Vivi!" Vivi was a strange creature hidden almost completely beneath a large straw mask. He wore a long-sleeved blue shirt and green cargo pants. "Third, the underground favorite and the kid with an attitude problem, Hayner." Hayner glared.

_Well, he's got that right._ Roxas thought. Hayner glared in his direction. He lowered his eyes. He felt really bad about breaking his promise to Hayner.

"Finally, my absolute favorite customer, Roxas!"

People cheered loudly. The trophy was showed off, a rather pretty work of art with five crystals hanging off, one green, one red, one yellow, one pink, and one blue. Also showing off was the reigning champion, Setzer. He was very popular, especially with the ladies. The rules were explained: they would attack each other with rubber sticks until one of them was left standing. The pairings were decided.

"First match: Roxas VS Hayner," the announcer called.

Roxas groaned softly. Fate REALLY didn't like him. Not only was his best friend mad at him, he would now have to face said angry best friend in the first round. Only one of them could move on so one of them would have to be hurt. The only question was: who?

The two of them got into the ring. The official handed each of them a rubber stick and gave them a friendly pat on the shoulder. Then, he moved to the side. Hayner turned to Roxas and held up his rubber stick. Roxas looked away, sadly. He really didn't want to do this. He looked up at Hayner.

"Look, I'm sorry," he said.

"What? You still bugged about it? You need to learn to let stuff like that go. It's cool." Hayner scratched his head.  
"I've had a lot on my mind," Roxas said.

"I'm sorry man." Hayner blinked. "Wait. What am I sorry for?!" he grinned at Roxas. Roxas's face instantly brightened.

"This first match is between Roxas and his best friend Hayner. Two will go in but only one will come out. Let's find out who! Gentlemen, you may begin!"

Hayner immediately went on the offensive, but Roxas managed to block his attack before it went through. He countered with a few good hits that sent Hayner flying back. Hayner charged forward only to be blocked again by Roxas. When he attacked again, Roxas ran back to create a large distance between them. He waited, ready to attack. He parried Hayner's next attack then followed up with a series of short jabs. While Hayner was trying to recover from the blow, he charged forward to attack. Then, something distracted him. He thought he had seen a very familiar red head in the crowd. Hayner, taking advantage of Roxas's momentary distraction, went on the offensive.

"How's this?!" he asked. Roxas twisted around just in time to miss the majority of Hayner's blow, but it still caught him in the ribs.

_Damn it_. He thought, stumbling backwards. He had to focus. Now!! He charged forward, taking Hayner off guard. He slashed Hayner's side and pushed him back. He could see Hayner tiring and took advantage of it. A few more blows and Hayner was stretched out on his back, admitting defeat.

"Arg I lost?!" he asked. Roxas ignored the cheering and ran over to him. Hayner got up. "I guess I taught you well." He smiled ruefully. Roxas returned the smile.

"The winner is…Roxas!" the announcer called. Roxas smiled and waved briefly to the crowd before getting the hell out of there. He sat down on a bench to catch his breath while Vivi and Seifer went at it.

"Hey Roxas!" A very familiar voice called. Roxas looked up and let out a low groan.

"Axel," he greeted the red head coldly. He stared at the two people accompanying Axel. Both wore the same black cloaks as Axel and one of them was Zexion, but the other, a blond boy was unfamiliar. "Who's your friend?"

"Oh. Roxas, this is Demyx. Demy, this is Roxas, you know, the one I told you about," Axel said with a grin.

The boy named Demyx's eyes lit up. "Oh. Right." He smiled warmly at Roxas. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

Roxas carefully studied Demyx. His blond hair was styled like a mullet almost and his sea green eyes were filled with kindness. Roxas ignored the fighting going on behind him.  
"What are you doing here?" he demanded of Axel.

Axel shrugged. "I always come to the Struggle Tournaments to see what they're like. They're quite interesting. This year, I've dragged along Zex and Demy for the ride."  
"I see."

Suddenly, the crowd quieted. Roxas turned to see what had happened and noticed Seifer flat on his back.

"Did Vivi do that?" he wondered softly.

"That's weird. When did that little runt become so tough?" Hayner crossed his arms.

"Good luck fighting that one." Axel laughed.

"Okay. I guess Vivi is the winner!" The announcer said.

Seifer slowly got to his feet and walked out of the arena.

"That's not Vivi," he said harshly as he and his cronies moved past Roxas and the others. His eyes met Roxas's and Roxas could see betrayal in them. "Thrash him." Roxas nodded.

Nervously, he made his way up to the ring where Vivi waited for him. One of them was going to face the champion Setzer. The official handed each of them their rubber sticks.

"Keep it clean you two," he warned them.

Roxas and Vivi faced off.

"Begin!" the announcer called.

Roxas immediately went on the offensive. He slashed a few times at his opponent before being forced to retreat. Vivi was fast. He was very fast. Several times, Roxas was forced to run away so he wouldn't be hit by Vivi. And when the little guy did hit him, it really hurt. Roxas parried Vivi's attack and countered with a slash. Vivi flew backward. While he was stunned, Roxas went in and attacked. He didn't expect Vivi to leap to his feet and attack so rapidly. He flew back and hit the dirt.

"Get up Roxas!" someone screamed.

Vivi was coming. He brought his rubber stick down for an attack. Roxas narrowly rolled away in time and Vivi missed. He swung the rubber stick around and caught Vivi unaware in the ribs. Vivi went flying and didn't get up. A count was taken and Roxas was declared the winner.

"All right Roxas!" Axel cheered loudly.

Setzer stepped forward. He was handed a rubber stick.

"Hey rucksack," he called. "Why don't you throw the match for me? Let me win and I'll make it worth your while." His purple eyes gleamed.

"Get real!" Roxas yelled. He took a fighting stance.

"Very well then," Setzer said in a bored tone.

Fortunately for Roxas, Setzer was a pompous fool who liked to hear himself talk. He was a good fighter, Roxas would give him that, but his moves were easy to read. Roxas blocked them with ease. While Setzer was stunned, Roxas attacked. Even Setzer's more serious jabs were easy to dodge. Roxas took care of him easily.

"I'm not supposed to lose," Setzer muttered. He walked away.

The crowd cheered Roxas's name. Hayner, Pence, Olette, and Naminé ran forward. Olette and Naminé both hugged him. Roxas was handed the trophy and the champion's belt.

"Let's get some sea salt ice cream and celebrate!" Olette said enthusiastically. They started to head for their other hangout—the clock tower.

"Sure. I'll be right there," Roxas replied. He turned as Axel came up to him. "What do you want?"  
"To see you," Axel replied. "I know you're going out with your little friends right now and I'm not going to get in the way of them. But I wanna see you again Roxas. Is that okay?"  
"Why?" Roxas asked so angrily.

"That's what I wanna find out." Axel stepped forward and unexpectedly brushed some hair out of Roxas's face. Roxas wanted to yell at him to get away, but he didn't. He stared up into Axel's bright green eyes and Axel stared back.

"Axel what are you…mmmmng…" Roxas protested as Axel came closer. He wasn't expecting Axel to kiss him like that. It was only a quick kiss, but Roxas's face was flushed when Axel pulled away.

"See you for breakfast tomorrow," Axel said softly. He walked away. Demyx looked at Zexion, surprised and then the two of them followed their friend.

--

Roxas's face was still incredibly flushed when he met his friends at the top of the clock tower ten minutes later. Clutching the trophy and belt close to him, he was in his own little world as he sat next to Naminé.

"Hey Roxas!" Olette called.

Roxas jerked up. Olette handed him a sea salt ice cream bar.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"I'm fine," Roxas answered dazedly.

"Your face is flushed. Did something happen?" Naminé asked.

"Uh…no. I just…got a lot of sun," Roxas lied.

"You shouldn't go out in the sun very much," Naminé said. "It's not good for you."  
"Jeez Naminé, you sound like his mother," Hayner commented.

Naminé laughed softly. "I guess I do. I'm sorry Roxas."  
"Hey, it's okay. I'm glad at least _someone_ cares about me." Roxas mock-glared at Hayner. All of them laughed. "I've got something for everyone." Roxas carefully broke the crystals off the trophy and handed them out, green for Pence, red for Hayner, yellow for Olette, and pink for Naminé, and blue for him. At the same time, all of them held up their crystals so the light filtered through.

"Thanks." Naminé smiled.

"Another treasure for us to share." Hayner grinned.

The teens fell silent and ate their sea salt ice cream. No more words were needed.

To be continued…

A/N: I hope the battle scenes were okay. I'm not really good at writing that sort of thing. Hmm, what else is there for me to say? Told ya Demyx would be in this. He's going to be in the next chapter too. I hope. I like him. And Zexion of course. Reviews help me to update faster! Only two chapters left. Wow, I hope I can wrap things up in that short period of time. I'm sure I can. The last two chapters will probably be long because A LOT is going to happen in them. You'll see what I mean in due time.


	4. The 4th Day

To Save a Life

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters associated with Kingdom Hearts or Kingdom Hearts II. I'm merely borrowing them.

A/N: This is going to be an attempt to bridge together the events in this chapter with the events in the next chapter which also happens to be the last one. I hope everything goes all right…

The 4th Day

Roxas felt slightly nervous as he approached the café. He wasn't sure what to expect when he sat down to breakfast with Axel. The first surprise came relatively quickly; Axel wasn't alone. There were two others with him; Zexion and Demyx. Roxas stared at them as he sat down.

"Morning Roxas," Demyx greeted him cheerfully.

"Hi Demyx," Roxas said politely.

Zexion gave Roxas a cool look that he took as a 'hello."

"Mornin' sunshine," Axel chirped.

"Hi Axel," Roxas greeted the red head coolly.

"Aw, you give Demyx a warm greeting but you're cold to me?" Axel protested. He pouted. "You're sooo mean Roxie!"  
"Don't call me that," Roxas growled.

"Are you guys going to order?" Larxene snapped, coming over to the table.

"Roxas just got here Larx. Chill out." Axel looked at Larxene sternly.  
"It's okay," Roxas said quietly. "I already know what I want."

He ordered the same thing he always ordered at the café. Larxene took all their orders and left looking at least a little more satisfied.

"So, what are you planning to do today?" Axel asked Roxas curiously.

"Why do you care?" Roxas shot back.

"I was just wondering." Axel shrugged.

"I don't know. I haven't heard from Hayner yet, but I'm not really surprised. He doesn't get up until after 11 usually."  
"Sounds like Axel," Demyx said with a wicked grin.

Axel glared at him. "I'm NOT a morning person, okay? I'll shoot anyone who is."

Demyx just laughed. "He can get very cranky before he has his first cup of coffee and if he's not had any caffeine in system for a while. He'll be back to his cheerful self after he's gotten some coffee in him."

"Right…"

As if on cue, Larxene came out and distributed coffee. Zexion was the only one who refused. Roxas stared at him.

"I hate the taste of coffee," Zexion mumbled.

"I see…"

They chatted for a while until the food came.

"Tell me a little about Organization XIII. Just a little bit," Roxas pleaded. His curiosity was insatiable.

"Well, what can I say?" Axel asked.

"What is it?"

Axel had to think for a minute. "Organization XIII is…well it's a group that Xemnas…he's the leader…started. It's made up of twelve members. Don't ask me why we're called Organization XIII. I have no idea. Anyway, we're all a bunch of misfits. None of us fit in for…one reason or another. Our looks...our habits…hell even our sexual preferences alienate us from the rest of the group. So Xemnas started this group to give us a sanctuary where we wouldn't be taunted because we liked guys…" he glanced sadly at Demyx. "…or because we have a strange eye color..." he looked at Zexion. "…or because we liked to play with fire…or any other reason."

The food arrived. Axel shoved food in his mouth, earning him a glare from Roxas. With caffeine in his system, Axel was well on his way back to his normal hyper self. He spent most of his free time (when he wasn't shoving food down his throat) trying to convince Zexion to eat something. Zexion continually shook his head, his eyes downcast. Roxas suspected something was going on, but kept his nose out of it. Instead, he chatted casually with Demyx. He didn't know the boy very well; they had been in the same school since kindergarten, but they had never talked. Never.

"So…um…you like to play the guitar?" Roxas asked, slightly embarrassed.

"Yeah." Demyx nodded, equally embarrassed.

"That's…cool."

Roxas didn't know what else to talk about. The conversation quickly died. Roxas turned back and watched Axel holding up a fork in front of Zexion's face with a bit of scrambled eggs on it, trying to get him to eat.

"Is he always like this?" Roxas asked Demyx in an undertone.

"You mean this motherly?" Demyx asked. "No." He gave a soft sigh. "He hasn't always had to do this."  
"Really?" Roxas asked curiously.

"I…I can't really tell you a lot about what happened."  
"Because I'm not in the Organization?" Roxas asked quietly.

"No." Demyx desperately shook his head. "It's a personal thing."

"Oh."

"But I can tell you a little bit. Zexion is…well he's an orphan. He's always had to fend for himself but he uh…did some things wrong and he got sick. Really sick. And since then, he's barely been able to take care of himself. He just recently got back on his feet and he's still trying to pull himself back together."

"That bad?" Roxas whispered. He snuck a glance at Zexion. He looked like he was in one piece.

"Yeah. Axel and I have been taking care of him ever since…or at least trying to. I've never seen Axel be so protective of him before. But it's good. Zex needs him. He needs us."

"Ah."

Roxas was glad when his phone rang. It would give him the distraction he craved at that moment. However, he instantly regretted it. It was Hayner, but it wasn't a good thing.

"We. Need. To. Talk," Hayner spat out.

"What? Why?"

"Now."

"Are you mad at me Hayner?" Roxas asked meekly. Hayner's response was to hang up on him.

"I'll take that as a yes," he mumbled. He put his phone away. Axel, Demyx, and Zexion stared at him. "I…I'm sorry. I have to go. My friend Hayner wants to have a chat with me."  
"Yeah, I guessed," Axel said. Roxas glared at him. "No need to get bitchy on me Roxas. I was just concerned. It sounded like your friend was mad at you for some reason."  
"Way to pick up on the hidden signals Axel," Zexion muttered.

Axel glared at him. "I'm just worried."  
"So we've established," Roxas snapped. He got up.

"Roxas just..." Axel gave a soft sigh and looked up at Roxas with pleading emerald eyes. "If something happens, don't hesitate to call me, okay?"  
Roxas was surprised. "That's…sweet. Thanks."

Axel smiled. "No problem."

He rose and walked over to Roxas, uncertainty reflecting in his green eyes. Roxas's expression mirrored his. Axel gently cupped Roxas's chin and brought his face closer. Before Roxas knew what he was doing, he was standing on his tiptoes to reach Axel's mouth. The kiss was much longer than last time. Roxas surprised himself by kissing Axel back. Axel deepened the kiss. Roxas went along with it. Demyx and Zexion stared at them, dumbfounded. So did everyone else sitting at the outdoor café. Roxas knew that the whole town was going to hear about this by sundown, but for some reason, it didn't bother him. Axel reluctantly broke off the kiss so they could breathe. Somehow, Axel's arms had become wrapped around Roxas's waist, but the blond-haired boy didn't even seem to care. He rested his head against Axel's chest. He was unexplainably scared. He knew he always had felt strongly about Axel, but he had always thought it was hate. Now, he wasn't so sure. What if, all this time, he was denying his feelings for Axel? What if, instead of hating Axel, it was love he was feeling for the redhead? The thought scared him. He felt safe in Axel's arms and let the redhead hold him.

Finally, he had the courage to pull away.

"I…have to go," he said. "My friends are waiting for me."

"Yeah." Axel said softly.

"I'm sorry."

"Hey, it's cool. I understand." Axel smiled. "We'll have plenty of time later to talk." Roxas looked at him curiously. Axel didn't elaborate. He simply smiled as Roxas left. When the blond had gone, he turned to look at his two friends.

"Demyx owes me ten bucks," Zexion said smugly.

Axel blinked as he stared at his dark-haired friend. "You two had a bet going? About whether Roxas was going to kiss me or not?" He sat down.

"We have a bet about whether Roxas hates you or not." Demyx gave Zexion a pointed look. "It's not over yet."

"Whatever," Zexion said in a bored tone. "Roxas made it pretty clear he didn't hate Axel when he was making out with him just now. Speaking of which, what do you plan to do, Axel? News travels fast around here. I don't doubt that half the town already knows what you've done. The Superior isn't going to be happy when he finds out…"  
"Don't worry Zex," Axel said nonchalantly. "I have that taken care of."  
"How? The only way to get Xemnas to agree to your relationship with Roxas." He leaned forward and spoke in a low voice, "make him an offer he can't refuse."

"I know Zex." Axel's eyes glinted wickedly. "I know the one thing that Xemnas desires. Besides SaÏx, of course."  
Zexion shook his head. "You still going on your 'Xemnas is fucking SaÏx' theory?"

"Yes. I'm pretty sure that those two are fucking around. Literally."

"Axel, watch your language. Please. You too Zex," Demyx pleaded, looking around. "There might be young children around."  
"You're way too sensitive Demy." Axel rolled his eyes.

Zexion leaned forward and looked at Axel intently. "Do you know what will get Xemnas to agree to your relationship?"  
"Oh I know Zex. I know full well what Xemnas wants." Axel's eyes glittered.

He leaned forward and whispered something into Zexion's ear. Zexion's one visible eye widened considerably and he pushed himself backwards.

"How do you know about that?!" he hissed.

Axel's eyes glinted in the sun. "Oh, I have my ways Zex."  
"I know you like playing with fire Axel, but don't get in over your head," Zexion warned. Axel made no response.

--

Roxas could sense something was wrong from the moment he stepped into the Usual Spot. Hayner was glaring at him hard.

"I'll make this short and simple. What the hell were you thinking?!" he yelled.

"What? What are you talking about?" Roxas asked.

"I heard from…Kairi that you were going out partying with Axel from Organization XIII, doing drugs and stuff."  
"What?!" Roxas couldn't believe it. He had to sit down. "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard! Why would I do drugs? I'm not going to trash my body."  
"You've been hanging out with Axel, haven't you?" Hayner's gaze was piercing.

"Yes," Roxas admitted. "I met him for breakfast this morning."  
"Aha! I knew it!"

"What?"  
"You were pretty chummy with Axel this morning, huh? Don't lie. You know what I'm talking about."  
"What are you talking about?" Roxas sighed softly.

"You kissed Axel this morning."

Roxas stared at him. Had news traveled that fast about his kiss? "Yes I kissed him. So what?"  
"It's disgusting. That's what. He's a guy like you, Roxas. Have you no shame?"

"What's that supposed to mean."  
"I should have known. Fucking queer."

Roxas's eyes widened. Hayner's words hurt. He couldn't think of a response.  
"Roxas are you really um…gay?" Naminé asked timidly, trying to start a conversation.

"No." Roxas shook his head. "I don't know, okay? I'm so confused!" He put his hands in his face.

"It's okay." Naminé patted him on the shoulder and smiled.

"I can't believe you will willingly touch that…that disgusting fag," Hayner sneered. Naminé's eyes widened and a hurt expression crossed her face. Roxas's anger boiled over. He rose.

"So that's what I am to you? A disgusting fag? You were my best friend Hayner. And now you turn on me just because I kissed a guy?"

"You're supposed to hate Axel. You're supposed to hate all the guys from Organization XIII. They're bad people." Hayner rose in his anger.

Only then did Roxas truly understand how judgmental he and everyone else had been of Axel and Organization XIII. He hated Axel and the Organization because everyone else did. He did it because he was told to.

"You're a fucking bastard, you know that?" he asked Hayner hotly. "You judged Axel…all of Organization XIII without knowing them. You immediately assumed that they were bad people."  
"That's what they are."

"No. You're so wrong. I've hung out with Axel and some of his friends from Organization XIII okay? They're just like us."

"They're strange. They're a bad group."

Roxas thought back to the conversation he had had with Axel.

_"Organization XIII is…well it's a group that Xemnas…he's the leader…started. It's made up of twelve members. Don't ask me why we're called Organization XIII. I have no idea. Anyway, we're all a bunch of misfits. None of us fit in for…one reason or another. Our looks...our habits…hell even our sexual preferences alienate us from the rest of the group. So Xemnas started this group to give us a sanctuary where we wouldn't be taunted because we liked guys…" he glanced sadly at Demyx. "…or because we have a strange eye color..." he looked at Zexion. "…or because we liked to play with fire…or any other reason."_

"They're a bunch of misfits," Roxas whispered.

"What?" Hayner asked.

Roxas looked up at Hayner angrily. "They banded together because they didn't fit in. They feel alienated from everyone else. They came together to protect themselves. From narrow-minded jerks like you."

"What a lame excuse."

Roxas lost control. He stepped forward and hit Hayner as hard as he could. Hayner stumbled backwards. Naminé and Olette gasped. Pence stared. Hayner looked up at Roxas, his eyes smoldering.  
"Get out," he spat. "You're no friend of mine. You…you bastard! Get out of here!"

Roxas was startled. He hadn't meant to hit Hayner so hard…or had he? He wasn't sure anymore. He wasn't sure of anything anymore. It was like…he didn't even know himself. It scared him more than anything. He did the only thing he could do.

He ran from it all.

To be continued…

A/N: Wow I wasn't expecting to have a make-out scene between Axel and Roxas. Not that I'm really complaining. Okay, I REALLY wasn't expecting the make-out session to go the way it did. That seems to happen a lot to me. I'm sorry. Hayner and the others are probably really OOC. But I needed a reason for them to break away from Roxas. Besides, I kind of see Hayner as rather narrow-minded. Olette…eh…not so much. Definitely not Pence. Or Naminé. They just don't seem to be like that. Eh, maybe I'm just not a fan of Hayner. He's rather annoying. The next chapter will be the last. Sad, I know. It's going to be really long. I've started it already and it's already at about 3700 words. And I'm nowhere near finished with it. Because it's going to be so long, it may take me a little while to get it done. So please be patient. I'd really appreciate it.


	5. The 5th Day

To Save a Life

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters associated with Kingdom Hearts or Kingdom Hearts II. I'm merely borrowing them.

The 5th Day

It was raining, which wasn't a good sign. Good days never came from rainy days. It was just a fact of life.

The day started out normally enough. Roxas got up, got dressed, and met Axel at the café like he had been the past couple of mornings. He didn't ask about Zexion's presence; he had gotten used to the dark silver-haired boy after the first morning. They talked about anything that came to their minds. Roxas had started to come to enjoy his little meetings with Axel. He found he could express himself a lot more freely than in front of Hayner and the others. Even with Zexion there, he felt more at ease than he did with the others. He knew the two of them wouldn't judge him by what he looked like, or what he said. And he treasured that.

After breakfast, Roxas went to the local bookstore to pick up a book he had his eye on. Axel and Zexion, not having anything better to do, tagged along. They ended up spending several hours there and grabbed lunch at the café. Roxas had more fun with them than all the summers he spent with Hayner and the others combined. He reluctantly said goodbye to Axel and Zexion and headed home with the intention of curling up in his bed and reading the book from cover to cover.

Of course Fate had something else planned for him.

When he got home, there were two pairs of shoes by the door instead of one. His mother had gone to the market early that morning so they couldn't be her shoes. The only alternative was that Kairi was over, a thought that made Roxas shudder. He had come to really hate Kairi in the past couple of days. Roxas left his shoes by the door and took his book upstairs. At the top of the stairs, he halted; he heard what sounded like passionate moans. He crept forward, his heart pounding in his throat. His eyes widened when he saw what was going on. Sora and Kairi were having sex. In the room he and Sora shared. After everything that had happened, Sora didn't believe him. Even worse, he broke the promise he had made to Roxas long ago.

_Roxas shifted uncomfortably. "Well, I wanna talk to you about Kairi."_

_Sora looked surprised. "What about her?"_

_"She just makes me feel uncomfortable. Don't…mess around with her or anything."_

_"What? Like have sex?" Sora laughed. "Oh god Roxas, I'm not going to have sex with her. I'm totally not ready."_

_"Okay. But can you promise me that you won't, just for now at least?"_

_"No problem. I promise."_

Something inside Roxas broke when he saw Sora and Kairi in bed together. He turned and ran from the room, ignoring Sora's protests. He didn't even bother to put his shoes on as he burst out into the storm. Within moments, he was soaked. The thunder muffled his sobs and the lightning illuminated his path through the rain-soaked streets. He had never felt so much pain before in his life. He felt like his chest was being torn in half. He slid through a puddle and landed facedown in an even larger puddle. Fate was laughing at him. He picked himself up and slid into an abandoned alley where he sat with his knees pulled up to his chest. He was cold, wet, and miserable. Still sobbing, he sat with his arms wrapped around his knees and his face buried within his jeans.

He barely even heard the soft footsteps.

"Roxas?" A quiet voice asked.

Roxas looked up at the cloaked figure, tears and rainwater dripping down his face. The figure brought down its hood.  
"Zexion? What are you doing here?" Roxas asked.

"I should be asking you the same question," Zexion replied.

Roxas held up his hands helplessly. Zexion squatted down next to him with much difficulty.

"Are you okay?" he asked softly.

Roxas shook his head. He sobbed harder. Zexion sighed softly. This was not something he was used to dealing with. He only had one choice; taking the boy to Axel. He would know what to do with him.

"Can you stand?" he asked. Roxas nodded. Slowly, he got to his feet. Zexion mirrored his actions, though he found it much more difficult. He turned to Roxas. "Do you think you can walk?"

"I'll…try," Roxas sniffed softly. The two of them walked down the street together, ignoring the falling rain. Slowly, they went up the stairs at Axel's apartment complex and wearily, Zexion knocked on Axel's door.

_Please be in._ He thought.

The door opened and Axel's head poked out.

"Zex? What the hell are you doing here?" he asked hoarsely. "You know you shouldn't be out in the rain like this."  
"I'm sorry Axel. I had nowhere else to go. I…need your help," Zexion replied.

_As much as it kills me to say it._ He thought.

"What do you mean?" Axel asked. He gave a low gasp when Zexion stepped out of the way, revealing Roxas. "Roxas?!"

Roxas looked up when he heard his name but his eyes were strangely blank. No pain, no anger, no happiness, nothing. It was as though he had put up a wall.

"Roxas? What's wrong?" Axel's soft voice broke through the wall in an instant. Roxas broke down.

Sobbing, he told Axel about Sora's promise to not mess around with Kairi and how that promise had been broken. He talked about how Kairi had spread lies about him partying hard and doing drugs and had turned pretty much everyone against him. Axel let him talk while slowly guiding him inside. He gestured for the silver-haired ten to follow, which he did. Roxas cried and talked in Axel's embrace while they sat together on the couch until he had exhausted himself and fallen asleep.

Slowly, without waking the sleeping boy, Axel detangled himself and managed to get Roxas to lie down on the couch. He covered him with an afghan and motioned for Zexion to follow him into the bedroom so they could talk.

"How did you find him?" Axel asked in a soft voice.

"I followed his scent," Zexion answered unflinchingly. "I picked it up as I was returning from Demyx's and I could sense that he was unhappy so I followed his scent and found him huddled in the alley crying. I didn't know what to do so I brought him here."  
"You did the right thing, Zex. I can look after him for a while."  
"What will happen after that?" Zexion was barely able to contain the curiosity in his voice.

Axel sighed softly and ran his fingers through his red locks. "I'm not sure Zex."

"Do you think Xemnas will allow him to join the Organization?"  
"I don't know." Axel rubbed his forehead. "Do you think it's the best thing for him right now?  
"At least he'll be protected," Zexion pointed out.

"Yeah, you're right. All right, I'll go and talk to Xemnas later."

"I'll go. I was going to go up to the Organization headquarters anyway…"

"Oh no you don't," Axel instantly interrupted. "You are not going out in the rain, not in your condition."

Zexion scowled. "I'll be fine."

"You remember what happened the last time you were out in the rain for so long? You almost died and you had a miscarriage. That's not happening this time."  
"It's not even your baby," Zexion pointed out.

"It doesn't matter," Axel snapped. "You're my best friend. I care about you. And your child." Axel pointed to Zexion's stomach. Zexion flushed angrily.

"Fine. I'll stay behind," he said reluctantly.

"Thank you. I'll be back as soon as I possibly can. Call me if Roxas wakes up, but know that I won't answer if I'm with Xemnas."

"Right…"  
Axel left. Zexion peeled off his soaked cloak and hung it up in the shower so it could dry. He grabbed a towel and hastily dried his hair. In his heart, he knew that Axel was right. The redhead hadn't explicitly stated it, but he knew that Zexion was still weak from his near-death experience a couple months ago. And it didn't help that he was pregnant. He had already lost the first child. This second one meant a whole lot more to him because it was conceived with a man who actually cared about its existence.

After he had finished, Zexion hung up the towel and went out to the living room to check on Roxas. He was still fast asleep, his young face streaked with tears.

_Poor kid._ Zexion thought. He felt bad for Roxas. He really did.

Zexion grabbed a book from Axel's bookshelf and settled himself into a chair to read.

After a while, a soft noise interrupted his reading. He looked up. Roxas was moaning and tossing and turning in his sleep. Zexion closed the book, put it down, rose, and walked over to the couch. Roxas's face was glistening with sweat.

_He must have a fever_. Zexion thought. He went into Axel's bathroom. _Now if I were a thermometer, where would I hide?_ He spotted the medicine cabinet. He opened it, but there was no thermometer. _Damn it. Guess I have to do things the old fashioned way._

He had read several books on medicine so he had a faint idea of what to do. First, he went into Axel's kitchen and got out a bowl. He filled it with cold water and left it on the table in the living/dining room. Then, he got a washcloth from the bathroom, wet it with cold water, and brought it over to Roxas. He set it on the blond's forehead. This was going to be a long day…

--

When Roxas woke up, he was in a place he didn't recognize. He sat up. An afghan fell off his shoulders. He looked around. He was in a nice, but sparsely furnished apartment. Whoever lived there didn't have a lot of money, but kept the place in good shape. Directly in front of the couch was a coffee table with a bowl of water on it. There was a washcloth sitting inside the bowl. Roxas looked around more. There was a small table with chairs around it and a kitchen attached. The pale blue walls were bare. The apartment was small but comfortable. Roxas's attention was caught by a small black-clad figure stretched out on the floor on the other side of the coffee table. Dark silver hair was plastered against the peacefully sleeping Zexion. On his left wrist, there was a black bracelet-like tattoo that proved he belonged to Organization XIII. He wasn't in Zexion's apartment, was he?

He frowned as he tried to remember what happened. He, Axel, and Zexion had breakfast together, then went to the bookstore. Yes, then they had lunch and went their separate ways. And then Roxas had discovered Kairi and Sora in bed together…having sex. After that, he frowned, he couldn't remember. There was a lot of lightning and rain.

He jumped as Zexion stirred. Slowly, his blue violet eyes opened and he heaved himself up. His hair was sticking up in every direction imaginable and for the first time, Roxas could see both of Zexion's eyes. They were much lighter than Roxas first thought, more blue than violet, really. Both of them focused on Roxas and widened when they saw him sitting up.

"You're up!" he gasped, heaving himself to his feet, using the coffee table as a prop. He arched his back and Roxas stared at his bulging stomach. It looked like…he was pregnant, but that was impossible, right? Zexion caught him staring, realized that he wasn't wearing his cloak, and let out a low growl that sounded like a curse.

"Roxas look…" he hastily said, trying to cover himself up.

"Are you pregnant?" Roxas blurted out. Zexion stared at him. "You don't have to tell me how…or why. Just tell me if you are or not. Please. I just…want to know the truth. Are you?"

Zexion's first instinct was to lie, but Axel was trying to convince Xemnas to let Roxas join the Organization and if he was successful, it wouldn't matter if Roxas knew or not. He'd find out eventually about what Xemnas was doing. There wasn't a guarantee that Axel was going to succeed, though. He weighed his options quickly and then decided to just tell the truth. He could trust Roxas. And he didn't trust anyone.

He gazed at Roxas sadly. "Yes. I am pregnant."

Just then, Axel walked through the door.

"I'm so great!" he declared.

He saw Roxas staring at Zexion's stomach and by the expression on Roxas's face, he judged that Roxas knew Zexion's secret. Zexion was the first to respond to Axel. He turned to his red haired friend.

"Why are you so great?" he asked wearily.

"I managed to convince Xemnas to have an audience with Roxas. There may be a chance that he'll let you join the Organization. Would that be okay Roxas?"

"Sure," Roxas said sadly. "It's not like I have anywhere else to turn to."

"We can go now if you want," Axel offered.

"Okay." Roxas nodded.

"Just one thing." Axel grinned as he tossed Roxas an umbrella. "You may want this."

Roxas scowled, but held onto the umbrella.

"I'm coming with you," Zexion said, unexpectedly stepping forward.

"Zex…" Axel immediately protested.  
"Axel, this rain probably isn't going to stop for hours. Besides, if Roxas is accepted into the Organization, I'll have to be there. You know this."  
"Yeah." Axel sighed softly. "Fine."  
Zexion went into the bathroom to fetch his cloak. Axel and Roxas were waiting, Roxas wearing a pair of Axel's old sneakers. The three of them left the apartment. Roxas put up the umbrella and Axel and Zexion put up their hoods. The walk to the Organization headquarters was rather far. The headquarters itself was an old abandoned-looking mansion on the edge of town. Roxas knew the place well. The gates were always locked to keep out trespassers and there was a very high wall to make sure no one got in. Axel unlocked the gates with a key he wore around his neck and they went through. Zexion closed the gates behind him. They automatically locked.

"Come on," Axel said softly.

He pushed the doors open revealing a modern building. Roxas blinked. He definitely wasn't expecting a modern building. Axel laughed at Roxas's expression. Even Zexion looked slightly amused.

"Come on. I'll take you up to see Xemnas." Axel led Roxas up a staircase to the second level where there was a row of doors. Each one was marked with a number in Roman numerals. Axel knocked on the door labeled I.

"This is Xemnas's room. He's a bit…scary. Don't speak to him unless he speaks to you first. Be polite. Above all else, be respectful. Oh and whatever you do, don't look him in the eye. Let's just say that it won't be pretty if you do. Okay?"

"Yeah." Roxas nodded, slightly nervous.

"You'll be fine," Axel said reassuringly.

"Enter," a loud booming voice ordered. Roxas gave a soft squeak and fumbled to open the door. Axel gave Roxas a reassuring pat on the shoulder before he went in.

Roxas blinked. He wasn't expecting the lights to be so bright. He was in a sitting room with several comfortable-looking couches. He did not dare sit in them, however. His attention was focused on the figure seated in the throne-like chair in front of him. Roxas quickly looked at him. The man was about twenty-eight or twenty-nine years old with medium length silver ahir. Light silver hair. He caught the Look in the man's frightening bronze eyes and lowered his gaze.  
"You are Roxas?" he asked in a slow, melodramatic voice.

"Yes sir," Roxas answered.

"How is it you've become acquainted with Number VIII?"

Number VIII? Roxas racked his brains. He had to be referring to Axel.

"I…I've known him since kindergarten. I…I've b…been in s…school with him s…since then." Roxas couldn't stop stammering.  
"Indeed. And why do you wish to join Organization XIII?"

"Um…" Roxas said nervously. "Axel told me a little bit about Organization XIII and it sounded like…a good group to join. He told me that…you guys were a bunch of people who didn't quite fit in and now more than ever, I can relate to that. I don't know if you've heard the rumors going around about me…"  
"I have heard the rumors," Xemnas cut him off. "I never believe what I hear from other people."

"O…okay."  
"Stay here." Xemnas unexpectedly rose and went into another room.

Roxas fidgeted nervously. After a long time, Xemnas returned with another silver-haired man in tow. His hair was much longer, reaching down his back. He had tawny eyes and an X-shaped scar across his face.

"Number XIII, let me introduce you to Number VII, SaÏx. SaÏx, this is Number XIII, Roxas." SaÏx said nothing, staring at Roxas, and giving him the feeling that he was being x-rayed. "SaÏx, fetch Number VIII and instruct him to show Number XIII around and get him acquainted with everything. Get everyone gathered for the initiation of our new member, Number XIII."

"Yes sir." SaÏx nodded. He turned to Roxas. "Come Number XIII." Roxas scrambled after the strange silver-haired man. They ran into Axel outside Xemnas's quarters. "Number VIII, I have orders from the Superior for you. You are to show Number XIII around and get him ready for the initiation ceremony. Oh, and tell everyone about tonight's ceremony."  
"Okay," Axel responded with a curt nod. SaÏx turned and went…somewhere. Axel turned to Roxas, grinning. "Congratulations Roxie! You did it! You're in!"

"I thought you agreed to not call me that," Roxas hissed.

Axel clapped him on the shoulder. "Lighten up, Roxie." He knocked on the door next to Xemnas's quarters. "Yo Xiggy. You in?"

The door opened and a man around Xemnas's age came out. He had dark grey hair and a scar across the bottom of his left cheek. One yellow eye glared at them; the other was covered with an eye patch.

"What do you want Axel?" he drawled.

"I've got a new member for you to meet," Axel said with a smile.

"What? Seriously?"

"Yeah. This is Roxas. Roxas, this is Xigbar, Number II."

"So you're Number XIII, huh?" Xigbar peered at Roxas curiously. "You don't look like much."  
"That's quite enough Xigbar. Get ready for the initiation ceremony. Xemnas's orders."

Xigbar vanished back into his room.

"Come on." Axel took Roxas's hand and pulled him along the corridor. "As you can tell, these are the bedrooms. There's one for each member. Most members stays here full time, though you don't have to. Demyx and I are currently the only ones who don't live here full time, though Demy's been hanging out here a lot more lately." Axel knocked on the next door. A man with black hair and pale violet eyes opened the door.

"Yes Axel?" he asked in a deep voice.

"New member. Number XIII, Roxas. Roxie, this is Xaldin, Number III."

Xaldin studied Roxas for a moment.

"I'll see you in a bit," he finally said. He closed the door.

Roxas frowned. "They're not really friendly."  
"No, they're not," Axel agreed. "Most of them aren't."  
He knocked on Number IV's door. The one to answer this time was a creepy-looking man who looked like a child molester with straggly blond hair, watery green eyes, and a rather pointy chin.

"Number VIII, what do you want?" he asked.

"New member," Axel answered coolly. "Roxas, this is Number IV, Vexen. Vexen, this is our new member, Number XIII, Roxas." Vexen didn't offer any sort of a greeting. He examined Roxas from head to toe.  
"So I'm guessing there's going to be a meeting?" he asked.

"Yes."  
"Very well then."  
Axel and Roxas moved onto the next one. Number V was a big, muscular redhead named Lexaeus. He didn't say much.  
"You'll know the next one. It's Zexion." Axel smiled.

"Oh?" Roxas raised his eyebrows as Axel knocked on the door. The door opened and Zexion came out.

"Hello Axel. To what do I owe the pleasure?" he said pleasantly.

"We did it! Roxas is in?" Axel grinned.

Zexion's visible eyebrow rose. "Really?"

"Yup."

Zexion turned to Roxas. "Congratulations Roxas. This is a very happy day for you. Welcome."

He gently clasped Roxas's hand and gave the blond a genuine smile.

"Ooh what a pretty smile, Zex. You should smile like that more, especially around Demyx," Axel said sincerely, giving his own smile. Zexion said nothing. "You wanna come with us as we meet the rest of the Organization?"

Zexion shrugged. "Why not? I have nothing better to do."  
He joined them as they moved past Number VII's room.

"You've already met him. Number VII is SaÏx," Axel explained. He passed by Number VIII's room as well. "That's…my room. I don't think you want to see it. It's messy." He knocked on Number IX's door.

Demyx answered. His eyes lit up when he saw Roxas.

"Guess what Demy?" Axel said with a huge smile. "Roxas is now a part of the Organization."  
"Really?" Demyx turned to Roxas.

Roxas nodded. "Xemnas allowed me to join."

"That's great!" Demyx beamed. He gave Roxas a huge hug. He also joined them as the met the rest of the Organization.

Number X was a tall, thin man with whitish-blond hair and several earrings in both ears, Luxord. According to Axel, he liked to gamble, and especially liked to play poker. Number XI was Marluxia who had pink hair and was very sensitive about it. It was very pretty, Roxas thought, a soft rosy pink. It hung down to his shoulders in thick waves. He and the last member, Larxene, the blonde Roxas knew from the café weren't very nice.

"Don't worry," Axel said reassuringly. "Don't take it personally. Marluxia and Larxene hate everyone."

"You know that's not true," Zexion said with a ghostly smile. "Marluxia loves himself."

Axel, Demyx, and Roxas looked at him in surprise. Axel burst out laughing. Demyx and Roxas followed. Zexion looked sheepish. Axel patted him on the shoulder.  
"So mean, but oh so true Zex. And you, of all people should know that."  
Zexion's eyes narrowed. "You promised to not speak about that Axel. Remember?"

"Ooh yeah. Right. Sorry Zex."  
"It's okay." Zexion sighed softly.

"Come on Roxas. I'll show you to your room." Axel cleared his throat nervously.

He opened the last door that didn't have a label on it. They went in. The entire room was bare.

"It's…bare," Roxas commented.

"Yeah." Axel rubbed his forehead. "We're going to have to get you some furniture even if you're not going to live here full time."  
"We can deal with that later," Zexion said.

"Right. I'll give you the tour." Axel grinned. "But first…" he brought out a pile of black clothes—a T-shirt, pair of pants, socks, boots, and a cloak. Roxas went into the bathroom and pulled them on. They were slightly large on him, but very comfortable.  
"Wow Rox. You clean up nicely," Axel commented.

The blond glared at him. "Shut up."

"I mean it Rox. Now here are the rules about dressing. When you're in private, at home, in a hotel somewhere, whatever, you can wear whatever the hell you want. When you're out in public, you've gotta wear the uniform. Hood is up when walking outside. You don't have to wear it when you're inside, like at school. And when you're here, youv'e gotta wear the uniform. When you're in your room, the cloak is not mandatory. The cloak is only mandatory when there's a meeting. I'll show you the place. We call it "Where Nothing Gathers". Don't ask me why."  
"Okay." Roxas shrugged.

He followed Axel, Demyx, and Zexion back to the first floor. The kitchen was large and spacious with all the most modern of equipment. The attached dining room had a long wooden table with thirteen chairs. In the center, there was a strange symbol carved into the wood.

"This," Axel said, pointing to the symbol, "is the symbol of the Organization."

They left the dining room and moved past a single door on the left side.

"That leads to Where Nothing Gathers," Axel explained. "I wanna show you the basement before we go in there."  
They went through a different door and down a set of stairs. The basement featured a large screen TV and numerous couches and chairs as well as a pool table, a poker table, a full bar, and much more.

"The Organization holds several parties during the year and this is where they're held," Axel explained. They heard footsteps on the upper floor. "Sounds like it's time for the meeting." They went back upstairs and followed the black hooded figures into Where Nothing Gathers.

It was a large, brightly-lit room made almost entirely of white marble. There were thirteen throne-like chairs around the room, at all different heights. The Organization members shuffled into the room and took their respective seats, Zexion and Demyx among them. Axel, however, stuck by Roxas.

"Xemnas's chair is obviously the largest. It's the one directly across from him. On his right are the even-numbered members, and on the left are the odd-numbered members," Axel whispered. "The higher chairs are members who have completed more missions."  
"Missions?"  
"You'll see."

When everyone gathered, Xemnas stared a long, winded speech about the Organization and what it stood for. Roxas got the feeling that Xemnas just liked hearing himself talk. He made Roxas swear his loyalty to the Organization and to never reveal the secrets that he'd learn. Roxas quickly agreed.

"Number XIII, are you willing to do what's necessary to gain our trust?" Xemnas asked.

"Yes," Roxas answered calmly. He didn't feel frightened at all.  
"Very well. Let us go."  
They left the Organization headquarters and silently walked to a local tattoo parlor. Roxas had passed by it too many times to count. He felt a lump in his throat as he remembered how Hayner had teased him about getting a tattoo. Now it was finally happening, for a completely different reason. They were met by a girl around twenty or so with light brown, almost silver hair and many piercings all over her body.  
"I'm Paine. I help out the Organization when they need me," she told Roxas. "Xemnas told me that you need a tattoo, the standard?"  
Roxas swallowed hard and nodded. "That's right."  
"Come on." Paine led him over to a chair with armrests and made him sit down. The rest of the Organization stood around him."Are you left or right handed?"  
"Right?"

Paine got the tools ready. "Just relax."

Roxas nodded and tried to calm down. Axel stepped forward and took Roxas's left hand.

"Don't look at her. Look at me," he urged.

Roxas turned and looked at Axel. He felt Paine roll up his sleeve and numb the skin. He swallowed hard.

"Axel, talk to me," he said.

"What?" Axel asked.

"Talk to me! Distract me! Please! Otherwise I won't be able to get through this!" Roxas's voice rose.

"Okay…what do you want to talk about?  
"I don't care. Something. Anything," Roxas hissed.  
"Easy Roxie. Don't be bitchy."

"I'm sorry." Roxas tried to breathe. "I'm just nervous."  
"Don't worry. It'll be easy."  
"I'm ready to start," Paine announced.

"Okay." Roxas gritted his teeth. He stared at Axel.

"Roxas, I have a confession to make," Axel unexpectedly said. "I know this is going to sound really weird, but…I love you." Everyone stared in shock.

"Why?" Roxas wanted to know. "What's so great about me?"  
"Well, you're smart, funny, sassy in a good way, and incredibly good-looking."  
"Is that all?"

"Of course not. You're a great person to be around. You're fun to talk to…and even more fun to torment. Did I mention good looking? Wow you're hot Roxie. Incredibly hot." Roxas laughed. "You have a lot of good qualities. You just don't see them."  
"You know…at first these feelings I had toward you were those of hate, but I was wrong," Roxas said slowly. "My feelings for you are…love. I love you."  
Axel's face lit up.  
"Really?" he asked.

"Yes," Roxas whispered. Axel could tell he was telling the truth. He could just tell. "So…um…Axel…what does this make us?"

Axel leaned in closer. "What do you want us to be" His breath tickled Roxas's neck.

"I…I don't know. What do you think?"

"I think this would be qualified as us being…boyfriends." Axel chose his words carefully.

"Are you asking me out?" Roxas blinked.

"Maybe…why?'  
"Cause I'd say yes."

"Okay I am asking you out."  
"And I'm telling you okay. You're my boyfriend."

Axel grinned.

"All done!" Paine announced. Roxas stared. He hadn't felt a thing. He looked down at his wrist. There was the tattoo that Axel and all the others had.

"Congratulations Roxie. You're now officially a member of Organization XIII." Axel leaned down and stole a kiss from Roxas's lips.

"Wow." It was all Roxas could say.

"Now, it's time to party." Axel helped Roxas up. They walked back to the Organization headquarters with the rest of the group.

"You owe me ten bucks," Zexion whispered to Demyx.

Demyx grumbled something under his breath, but forked over the money to the smug silver-haired teen.

"I am gonna get drunk tonight!" Axel cried to the stars. Zexion and Roxas rolled their eyes at the same time. "I'm talking about totally plastered!"

"Well, please don't drink yourself to death Axel," Demyx said. "I'm sure Roxas here wouldn't like to see you die on his first night in the Organization."

Axel gave a goofy grin. "Aw, come on Demy. You know I don't have a problem. I know my limit."

Zexion muttered something that was probably inappropriate under his breath.

Once they reached the Organization headquarters, everyone headed for the basement. Everyone, that is, except for Demyx and Zexion. The two of them headed for the kitchen.

"Aren't you guys going down there?" Roxas asked curiously.

"Naw, those two don't drink. They stay as far away from the alcohol as possible. Besides, we need someone to be sober in case anything happens. Like if someone drinks too much or something," Axel answered. "It's not a problem at all."  
"Oh. Well…" Roxas looked slightly relieved. "If you don't mind, I want to stay up here with them. I…don't like drinking."

Axel looked surprised. "Oh. Okay Rox. I won't force you." He looked slightly disappointed but was still smiling as he headed downstairs with the others.

Zexion, Demyx, and Roxas sat at the table with non-alcoholic drinks.

"I have a feeling that there are other reasons why you don't wish to drink, but I won't pry," Zexion said softly.

"It's okay," Roxas replied. "My father…was an alcoholic. He didn't beat us or anything, but he drank way too much. One night, he drank too much and he died. I was seven. My mom has had to raise my brother Sora and me all by herself. I've promised myself that I'm not going to touch alcohol ever because I'm afraid that once I start, I won't like be able stop like him and one day, I'll drink myself to death like him."

Zexion and Demyx were silent for a few minutes.  
"I can understand your fear," Zexion murmured. "I can totally understand it."

_I can relate to him on so many levels._ He thought sadly.

Roxas smiled and they talked of other things. For the first time in his life, Roxas felt like he actually belonged somewhere, that people actually wanted him around. He did have a loving family and he was thankful for that, but he still didn't feel like he belonged. However, the Organization welcomed him with open arms (for the most part) and he felt like had found his family.

He was home.

End.

A/N: Not only do I make Axel left handed, but Zexion too?! What's wrong with me?! I feel like there should be at least one other left-handed Organization member so I chose Zex. Not really sure why. For some reason, he strikes me as a left handed kind of guy. Yes, I know SaÏx's name isn't supposed to have the "I" capitalized, but it was the only way to get the stupid little accent over it. If anyone knows how to get the accent up without having the "I" capitalized, please let me know how to do it. I'd greatly appreciate it. I could NOT resist poking fun at Marluxia. I don't like him that much. :P Roxas's reasons for not drinking are based off my reasons for not drinking. I'm not sure if I'd call my dad an alcoholic, but he does like to drink a lot and he can be quite a bastard if he's had a bad day at work. Anyway, he drinks a LOT and I just can't stand it. And he is still alive. I don't know what my family would do without him. So…yeah. I don't drink. Period. Oh yeah, and I have a friend who was in an accident involving a drunk driver and now she's in a wheelchair. Like forever. I also don't smoke. I lost my grandpa to lung cancer because of it and now my grandma has emphysema because she used to smoke. Did I mention that there's a history of heart disease on my mom's side of the family? Yeah, I'm pretty much screwed. But enough of my dysfunctional family. I listened to Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture while writing the last bit of this. It's a long song, but it's so pretty! The ending is the best. If you heard it, you'd immediately recognize it, especially if you've seen V for Vendetta. Anyway, this is it I guess. I feel sort of sad that it's over with but I'm excited because I've got two new projects coming, the sequel to this and Zexion's side story. So leave me a review and let me know what you thought of this. Any comments, concerns, or questions are welcomed. I'll answer them the best I can without revealing some things that will come up in To Create a Life and Tattered Soul. And a big thank you to those of you who reviewed:

Manipulator-of-Illusion

Smilenlaugh4evr

Guzophela

Yanki-chan

Ashweena200966

Silver-Excalibur

MandaShmanda

Sam2loved1s


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